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[1] From: "P . J . Victor" <pjvraj@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Apr 26, 2006 Subject: BBC E-mail: Working for peace after Varanasi bombs Working for peace after Varanasi bombs . Geeta Pandey reports on why Hindus and Muslims have maintained calm in Varanasi after the March bomb attacks. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/4936524.stm > ----------------- [2] From: "Victor Raj" <pjvraj@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Apr 26, 2006 0:03pm Subject: Watch Tower: Communal political cocktail Watch Tower: Communal political cocktail The Left initiative made things easier for those in the minority community who were looking to exploit the situation in their own interest, says Ramachary While it will be uncharitable to put the entire blame on him, it will appear that communal elements aided knowingly or otherwise by some 'secular' forces utilised the India visit of President George W Bush to fan a communal divide in the country. One particularly disconcerting aspect of the Bush visit to India was that many of the more 'visible' demonstrations against him were led by certain Muslim organisations with almost exclusive Muslim participation and that might have created a false notion that his critics in India are mainly Muslims. A clear demonstration of what may be called communalisation of demonstration politics was visible on March 3 in Lucknow where rampaging Muslim youth forced Hindu shopkeepers to shut their shop and join them in protesting against the visit of President Bush. The clash that ensued led to police firing, loss of property and some regrettable deaths, mostly minors, as was reported in a section of the press. The protestors in Lucknow had somehow drawn a link between the Bush visit and the controversy over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet in a Danish paper. It is doubtful if the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal would have motivated the protestors sufficiently to mobilise themselves after Friday prayers and go around forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters. Muslims in Lucknow, a city where the Shia sect dominates, are obviously also incensed over the arm-twisting efforts of the US against Shia Iran over the latter's nuclear programme. The full force of their anger coincided with the visit of Bush, though the critics of the Indian government's stand on the Iran nuclear controversy insist that the opposition to the government stand is purely on political grounds. The momentum for anti-US or anti-Bush feelings turning into a climax of fury in the country had gathered pace on a secular platform with contribution from all communities, not just the Muslim community, for the simple reason that the present bout of 'anti-Americanism' predates the Danish cartoon crisis. In large part it was started by the Left organisations with later support from many other politically 'secular' outfits some of which in danger of dissipation of their hold on the minority votes. Many in the country, however, thought that the Iran nuclear issue saw the Left articulations aligned more to the thoughts of the Persian clerics than the didactic Marxists of the previous century. The Left views on the Indo-US nuclear deal did have a 'swadeshi' overtone, which was later reinforced by the concerns of some nuclear scientists worrying that the Americans were trying to cap India's nuclear capabilities in the shape of offering a 'deal' on civilian nuclear cooperation. But at the root of the Left opposition must be their traditional and blind anti-Americanism and a fear that 'capitalist' US is out to erase the last traces of the (fading?) proletariat movement-- in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala. For the Left the twin issues of Iran's uranium enrichment programme and the Indo-US nuclear deal were a good opportunity to whip up emotions against the US and the visit of President Bush at a time when, going by a host of public opinion 'surveys', more and more Indians see the US as a friend and shedding their previous prejudices. The Left initiative made things easier for those in the minority community who were looking to exploit the situation in their own interest. These minority representatives converted political issues into minority issues unmindful of the fact that the first push against the US moves on Iran and the nuclear deal came from members of the other communities who had also lent full support to denunciation of the Danish cartoons. It will be tragic if there is an invisible hand of some 'secular' parties as this nefarious game of communal divide is played out, particularly in UP which is already on the path of a political crisis with the ruling combine seeing power slip out of its hands. On the other hand, 'communal' parties will be only too delighted to get an opportunity to 'sell' their hard line and regain some of the ground they had lost after the last general election. While there are many in the country, who disagree with the protests against the US, it has to be assumed that US criticism does not raise on communal consideration. That hypothesis makes it hard to interpret the anti-Bush protests in Lucknow, Hyderabad and elsewhere as a communal exercise. There have been occasions in the past when strike calls given by the BJP or one of its 'family' members such as the VHP has been opposed by the minority community. The BJP or its sister organisations have then taunted the Muslims for not joining them. Sometimes, the Muslim opposition has been used as an excuse by the extremists in the majority community to inflame communal passions. The secular parties as well as the majority of the society did not approve of attempts at communalising any public agitation. But what was infinitely more unfortunate was that certain secular causes such as opposing US policies acquired an unnecessary communal colour. http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060425/2504303.htm ------------------------- [3] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Apr 26, 2006 Subject: Pranab Bardhan on Globalisation and World's Poor http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=0004B7FD-C4E6-1421-84E68\3414B7F0101 March 26, 2006 Does Globalization Help or Hurt the World's Poor? By Pranab Bardhan ------------------------- [4] From: "Viren" <vlobo_1@hotmail.com> Date: Wed Apr 26, 2006 Subject: Victorious people of Nepal savour their moment 26 April 2006 The Hindu Now for a Constituent Assembly Empowered through battle, a victorious people savour their moment Siddharth Varadarajan WHAT NEPAL has witnessed over the past three weeks is a show of popular defiance unique in the world. Unlike the "velvet" and "colour" demonstrations in the former Soviet bloc countries which received so much moral and financial support from Western Governments, the people of Nepal have had to stare down the advice from Western chancelleries - as well as India - to give up their struggle for democracy mid-course. And as the residents of Kathmandu reclaimed on Tuesday the streets from which they had been beaten back a few days earlier, they seemed very clear that even now final victory was still months away. [. .... ......... ......] Though the slogans against Gyanendra and his son, Paras, were virtually non-existent on Tuesday, there was no weakening of the republican sentiment so evident on the streets. "Today we are celebrating victory day," said Devendra Bista, a third-year college student. [.... ... ..] But Dr. Sayami also had some words of advice for the Maoists. "What has happened today is also a victory for the Maoists," he said. "The slogan of constituent assembly was their slogan and most people used to oppose them on this. Today, the whole of Nepal is for a constituent assembly. So the Maoists should give up violence and join the peaceful process. What their armed struggle could not achieve in 12 years, people have achieved peacefully in 19 days." -------------------- [5] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Apr 26, 2006 Subject: Narmada Dam Construction Must Not Proceed Till the Displaced Are Rehabilitated http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1504272.cms LEADER ARTICLE: Virtues Of Middle Path Recent events that unfolded in Delhi and Ahmedabad around Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) show that the pro- and anti-dam lobbies continue to hold non-negotiating postures about SSP. There is an urgent need to foster a middle ground. Reportedly, there were efforts made by civil society groups in Ahmedabad to bring together the pro- and anti-dam people in Gujarat on the issue of proper rehabilitation of the project affected persons (PAPs). Their arguments are two: One, construction should not proceed without first rehabilitating PAPs; two, equitable distribution and proper management of the already stored water in SSP should be given priority over construction. ---------------- |
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